State of Conservation (SOC)

Requests Approved: 0 (from1980-2001)
Total Amount Ap proved: 249,607USD

UNESCO/IUCN/Ramsar mission in 2000 and 2001; IUCN/UNESCO mission in 2005; UNESCO and IUCN participation in multi-stakeholder workshop, April 2006.

a) Invasive species;

b) Systematic water management system not operational;

c) Lack of hydrological monitoring;

d) Salinisation of soils;

e) Cattle grazing;

f) Hunting;

g) Lack of management plan and sustained funding;

h) Poor management capacity and constant changes in staff;

i) Poor visitor management.

Benchmarks were proposed by the 2005 IUCN-UNESCO mission including:

a) Approval of a new management plan;

b) Functional reorganisation of Park Authority;

c) Implementation of an effective programme for the control of invasive species; and

d) Establishment and implementation of a schedule of water inflows that fully responds to the ecological needs of the property.

Timeframe for the implementation of the corrective measures:

A workshop was organized in April 2006, which proposed a 3 year action plan (2006-2008) to achieve the benchmarks. It is recommended that the implementation of the benchmarks be reviewed in 2007.

A State Party report was received on the 15 March 2006 in response to the recommendations of the 2005 IUCN-UNESCO monitoring mission and at request of the 29th session of the Committee. The report noted that the Park authority is currently being restructured, and an experienced Conservator has taken up office. Park rangers are being trained and will be in place during the course of 2006. In addition, 35 ‘eco-guards’ from the surrounding villages assist staff with all field work in the Park, including ecotourism. 3 new vehicles have been acquired and the rangers will have more mobility than before to allow them to intervene where necessary. A new team is also managing the Biological Station, and will focus on research. The Station has its own budget for the first time and has been placed under the authority of the Conservator, as recommended by the 2005 mission. The pelican breeding site will be rebuilt for greater sustainability in 2006 with the support of the Government of the Netherlands. In response to the 2005 monitoring mission, the State Party has also improved signposting in the park and successfully removed cattle from the property in all zones except in areas where their presence is considered beneficial to control the vegetation.

In relation to invasive species, the State Party report noted an improvement in the control of Pistia (Water Lettuce), despite the spread in 2005, and expects that the situation should continue to improve in 2006 with biological control methods. Further work needs to be done to ensure better control of Typha, which is linked to the level of water and requires ongoing hydrological monitoring. The spread of other species is also causing some problems and a report is currently under preparation on water management and invasive species.

The report provides no information on the implementation of a schedule of water inflows to respond to the ecological needs of the property. Overall, however, the State Party report notes that the National Parks Authority has become aware of the problems at the property and is working to improve its state of conservation.

Since submission of the State Party report, in direct follow-up to the 2005 IUCN/UNESCO mission and with funding and technical support from the World Heritage Fund, World Heritage Centre, IUCN and other partners, a multi-stakeholder workshop took place at the property from 24-27 April 2006. The aim of the workshop was to prepare a plan of action for the property with the engagement of scientists, various NGOs and former conservators of the Park, to take the necessary actions for the achievement of the benchmarks identified by the 2005 monitoring mission. The workshop successfully developed a plan with a series of specific actions that should be implemented between 2006 and 2008 to achieve the set benchmarks, including a budget and timetable. This Action Plan aims to complete the current management plan which notably describes the correct hydrological management system. However, it is not clear the level to which this Action Plan will be officially adopted and supported by the State Party, or the level of funding available for its implementation.

Based on the State Party report and outcomes of the April 2006 workshop, the World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that considerable progress has been made in following up on key recommendations of the 2005 monitoring mission and toward meeting each of the benchmarks. With the development of the Action Plan (2006-2008) and the engagement of a new Conservator, the state of conservation of the property should continue to improve in the coming years. It is now critical that the Action Plan and the planned changes in the management of the property are fully resourced and implemented in the course of the next year. IUCN notes that there is a constant risk of the spread of invasive species due to modified hydrological system caused by the upstream dam, and therefore the hydrological management system currently in place must be carefully controlled and monitored on an ongoing basis, along with a regular programme of biological control for species like Pistia and Salvinia molesta. With this work fully underway, and on the basis of assessing further progress in implementing planned activities, it should be possible to consider removing the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2007.

Finally, the World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that the Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary has been recognised as part of the recently approved UNESCO Senegal Delta Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (which includes the Djoudj Bird Sanctuary and Diawling National Park in Mauretania and the City of Saint-Louis). Furthermore, the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) has also recently included the Transboundary Reserve in the second phase (2005-2009) of the UN Foundation supported COMPACT programme (Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation), which offers financial and technical assistance to community-based initiatives in and around eight World Heritage properties.